


What Hurts the Most

by Rangergirl3



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [18]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Keith (Voltron) Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-27 22:44:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20768180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rangergirl3/pseuds/Rangergirl3
Summary: Keith wants to keep the promise he made to Pidge, to come back alive.He's just not sure if he can.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Requested by Anon - Dragging themselves along the ground for Keith

Keith almost made it out of the information sector before the firefight began. With all of the infighting that went on between the generals of the Galra Empire, he thought he could sneak on board, get into the prisoner database, and maybe find out where Matt and Sam Holt had been taken.

Pidge was down with a high fever, or she'd have been there instead, taking every opportunity to search for her missing family.

Keith hadn't thought that taking the time to look on her behalf would endanger his life. It was just a quick stop at a database scanner, like he'd done dozens of times over the last several missions.

But this time, it was different.

* * *

A direct hit on the level below caused the Galra warship to tilt crazily to one side. Keith's right arm broke as it slammed against the scanner, but his cry of pain was drowned out by the whine of the artificial gravity generators giving out.

Before he knew what was happening, the wall became the floor, and the floor became the ceiling. 

Keith had just enough time to realize that he was falling _down_ what had been a side passage when the ship's emergency power source sputtered into life. The sudden change in gravity dragged him back onto the ground with a force powerful enough to break his left leg as the floor rose up to meet him once again.

He had no time to activate his jet pack before he hit the ground.

Pain slammed _into_ him, _through_ him, sunk its claws into every muscle and bone and bit down, _hard_, and before Keith could stop himself, he _screamed_.

He didn't know why, exactly.

It wasn't his first time experiencing excruciating pain.

Maybe it was the sheer shock of it all, the way his body just _shattered_ without warning. Maybe it was because it had just all happened so _suddenly_. He hadn't been able to prepare for it, not at all, and now that he'd begun, he couldn't swallow back the screams, even if he had possessed the strength to try.

_There wasn't any reason behind the pain._

That was the worst part of it.

He wasn't protecting anyone.

He wasn't buying time for a friend to escape.

_It just **hurt**._

He could only lay there, on his side, half-conscious, and scream until he ran out of air. 

* * *

* * *

Below him, the damaged metal floor creaks and shrieks in a terrible sort of accompanying harmony as it collapses underneath him.

Then there's noise, more _noise_, so much noise that it drowns out everything else.

Voices, muffled, muted, frantic.

Allura on the comms. Shiro telling him to stay still. The others, talking over one another with ideas and solutions and attempted reassureances.

Keith can't hear anything they say, doesn't care, can barely remember his own name.

_It hurts. _ _It hurts so much._

Every inch of his body feels as if it were on fire. He's still on his side, for what little that's worth. At least he can see part of the room beyond the pile of rubble he's buried under.

_Voices, still loud, so loud, screaming into his ear._

"-eith! Keith, you've got to move, we can't get to you under t-"

_He just wants the pain to **stop**. _

Metal spikes, shards of glass, bits of wiring and flaring bits of purple lights all jumbled over, around, beneath, above him. 

_He can't move - he **can't** \- he'll be crushed and broken and torn apart - _

"Please - you have to move, now, or you'll d-"

_Pain, everywhere, in his back and in his hands and -_

"Keith, please, we're so close to you - please, just try - _please-_"

Metal shrieks near his head, and as one of the Paladins - _Hunk_ \- shrieks in terror, Keith keeps his eyes shut tight and hopes that it'll be over soon.

_The pain only grows worse, and he can't help but whimper, because he **can't move**, not like this, he can't even breathe right, it hurtsithurtsit**hurts** _

* * *

The voices are back, begging him to move, now, it's his only chance. 

_He doesn't want to, but the pain won't let him rest._

As he drags himself slowly towards the sliver of light ahead of him, the voices around him grow less distinct, but more urgent.

_Something about running out of time._

Keith can't answer them. His throat hurts, and his vision is blurry and streaked with red. 

_The taste of copper coats his tongue._

He's almost made it to the shaft of light when hands, gloved hands, reach through the rubble above, below, beside him, grab hold, and pull him free of the rubble. 

This time, Keith has no left breath left to scream.

He tries to, all the same.


	2. Chapter 2

_Lights._

Harsh, white, surgical lights, glaring down, boring holes into his skull.

_Voices, different then before._

"-ealing pod can't simply remove the glass -"

_Pain, sharp and ugly, sending flares of agony down his arms and across his back._

Keith hears someone crying nearby, but he doesn't recognize the voice.

_It's a terrible, strained, high-pitched keening sound. _

Keith hopes that the poor bastard making _that_ noise will be out of its misery soon.

_It would be awful, hurting like that._

His throat aches. 

_Something sharp and metallic stings the side of his neck, just under his chin._

"There, that should help until -"

_It feels like ice is spreading throughout his veins, numbing the pain, chasing it away. _

Cold prickles across his chest, thrums in the palms of his hands, and when it finally reaches his heart, he almost cries with relief.

_It doesn't hurt anymore._

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! <3 
> 
> I've been banging my head (metaphorically) up against some significant writers block lately. So, here it is! Another BTHB request complete! :D As much as I'd like to write out tons of happy fluff for the aftermath, I'm really pressed for time and energy right now. (But please be assureed, there were a whole lot of hugs for Keith after he got out of the cryopod) <3 <3 <3
> 
> Comments are /amazing/! <3 I'm on Tumblr, come say hi ;-)


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